Emil Lukas | Bubble-Up

Durham Press is pleased to announce Bubble-Up, a portfolio of nine prints by Emil Lukas. The portfolio consists of two etchings and seven screenprints, each measuring 22 3/4 by 17 inches. The nine prints are presented in a portfolio box and are published in an edition of 35.

In Bubble-Up, Lukas both recreates and re-imagines the unconventional materials and methods - including thread, larvae, bubble wrap, and glass - of his acclaimed paintings and sculptures. The artist organized the prints in a three-by-three grid to give the overall composition of dots, lines, and other marks an upward and dynamic movement.  

Within this grid, two screen prints reference Lukas's 'thread paintings,' which he creates by stretching layers of threads across wooden frames. Much like his 'thread paintings,' some prints use thread wrapped across wooden frames to expose screens, while other compositions are created by lying thread onto adhesive plates of glass - a new method of mark-making that Lukas has explored through the printmaking process. Taut, colorful lines crisscross Hum, while vertical strings accumulate into a dense mass in Curtain. Layer upon layer of screens are printed, creating the depth and almost glowing complexity seen in Lukas' thread paintings.

Similarly drawing on the processes Lukas employs in his larger practice, Anatomy transforms his 'larva paintings' into the language of print. The same method was used to create both the painting and the print: Lukas dips live larvae in ink, revealing the organic path they create as they move across the surface. Unlike his larva paintings on paper, the insects are placed on transparent acetate to expose screens for Anatomy. By printing screens of the larvae's marks, as well as several flat washes of transparent ink, the print achieves an opacity and depth like that of their painted counterparts.